Monday 28 January 2013

Uniwell AX3000 and Phoenix in Hyltons Restaurant, Bowness

 

Harmony EPOS Solutions recently installed a new EPOS System in Hyltons Restaurant.

Hyltons Restaurant-horz

Situated in the heart of Bowness-on-Windermere, Hyltons Restaurant is cosy, informal, family friendly, and popular with both tourists and locals. The owner, Steve Wilson, came to Harmony Epos Solutions when he needed an equipment upgrade, he worked along side our EPOS Sales Manager, Trevor Procter to find the best solution based upon his businesses needs. Steve wanted a system that would be easy to use and adapt, that would withstand the knocks and bangs that happen in a busy restaurant, and would enable his staff to spend more time looking after customers rather than playing around on difficult to use tills.

From this is was decided that Hyltons Restaurant would benefit greatly from the new Uniwell AX3000 and Phoenix software system. In December 2012, it was installed and we recently went back to see how their new system was performing. Here is what Steve Wilson had to say;

“We chose to upgrade our current Uniwell system because my previous Uniwell system had given me 15 relatively trouble free years, and I agreed that a Uniwell non-pc based system, is likely to last twice as long as a computer based touch.”

“Our new Uniwell AX3000 looks like a computer so my staff find it simple to use, and I was performing my own program changes from day 1! I can change the simplest things, such as button sizes, colours and menu changes without referring to a manual; the system can be very easily personalised.”

“I have two Nexus tablet running the Phoenix software, meaning that my staff can take orders at the table. The menu changes that I make on the AX3000 are uploaded to the tablets in seconds with no extra programming required. My plan is to use the two Uniwell touch screens to look after the downstairs restaurant and the Phoenix system on the tablets will look after upstairs which means that my staff won’t have to leave their sections upstairs to place orders, so customer service will be greatly improved as my staff will be readily available for my customer at all times.”

“ Once we are fully up to speed with the Phoneix system we will possible take orders with it downstairs as well. The only tricky task will be educating my customers to order in stages for drinks then food, however this will ensure that my staff will not miss items off the bill, so customers will always get what they ordered and we won’t lose money from the missing items. Overall the Phoenix software will help increase table spend and table turnaround.”

“ We chose to work with Harmony EPOS for our upgrade as they had supplied and maintained out previous system and I have always been happy with their after-sales service and quick response times on the rare occasion that have had a problem.”

Trevor Procter, Harmony EPOS Sales Manager, added “The Uniwell AX3000 and Phoenix system is likely to see many table-service restaurants adapt to wireless ordering because the cost of this system is much less than previous systems- two tablets running Phoenix and a wi-fi accessed point will cost less than £1000 compered to over £4000 for older systems. I think that any table-service establishments using a paper system will accept that they lose money due to products such as coffees, desserts and wines missing from a customers bill- and usually these mistakes are only noticed when it is too late. With this system it is not possible to miss products and the orders will be sent to the kitchen in real-time allowing the waitress to be more available to customers which will increase spend and customer satisfaction.”

Monday 7 January 2013

Adande | Catering Equipment Dealer Survey

 

Adande, manufacturers of refrigeration to a unique and patented design, recently commissioned an anonymous survey among catering equipment dealers, with some very interesting results.

A lack of temperature stability was seen as a significant, but unavoidable, shortcoming of all conventional refrigeration units when used in professional kitchens. The majority of dealers surveyed recognise that the design of all traditional door and drawer fridges leaves them unable to cope when their use increases and kitchen temperatures rise.

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When asked to “name the biggest problems associated with conventional cabinets” 50% of those responding said that the most serious issue is a lack of temperature stability. It is no surprise that temperature stability is a concern as it is the single most important factor in ensuring food safety and extended shelf life. Without it, food waste and poor food quality become significant costs and a drain on hard earned profits. Unstable temperatures also promote the growth of the bacteria that cause food poisoning.

So if half of respondents consider rightly that temperature stability is the most serious shortcoming of traditional refrigeration why do they then seem to accept it? The answer could be seen in the answers to other questions that revealed a commonly held view that as all traditional units perform in a similar way none should be expected to work effectively in hot and busy environments. So although temperature stability is known to be vital, some respondents considered it an impossible goal.

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So what can be done to help caterers avoid the high cost of losses resulting from unstable temperatures?

Thousands of chefs and kitchen operators have found a unique solution to the problem. They use Adande Refrigeration and have proved, to their own satisfaction, that the problem is not the heat in the kitchen, nor is it operator abuse or misuse. It is simply a case of not using the right tool for the job. Each Adande unit has an insulated drawer - a simple patent protected design that is not available to any other manufacturer without a licence. The dense cold air sits in the drawer when it is opened and the hot kitchen air cannot displace it.

Questioned further about “customer requirements” when selecting refrigeration, 94% of dealers cited purchase price, 69% listed reliability and 33% mentioned after sales service as being one of the three main purchase drivers.

While purchase price will always be high on the list with customers, it was interesting to see there is a growing recognition that ‘lifetime cost’ is important. And when asked “which brand would you recommend to clients interested in equipment with the lowest through life cost of ownership” more dealers considered that Adande provides users with the lowest ‘lifetime cost’ than any other brand.

Adande refrigeration does what any chef would want and any dealer should recommend. The units cost less to own, keep food safer and fresher for longer, are more reliable, use less energy and perform to specification no matter where they are located, or how hot and busy the kitchen.

For more information on Adande Refrigeration please call Harmony Business on 015395 66680, or email sales@harmonybusiness.co.uk.

Wednesday 2 January 2013

Happy New Year

 

New year 2013

Happy New Year! We assume that our customers and suppliers are now either busy back in the office or are putting their feet up after the busy festive rush; either way we hope that you had a successful Christmas period. As the excitement of the holidays wears off, and the food and drink dwindle down, the period of looking ahead begins. Many look ahead at the year by making personal goals and resolutions, many start to plan holidays or activities for the next 12 months. Whether your changes are drastic or none at all you will find yourself reflecting upon 2012 and wondering what 2013 will bring.

Here at Harmony Business, we have have a busy yet tough 2012, as many have in the hospitality industry, but despite this we have found ourselves in a strong position and would like the thank all of our customers and suppliers for their support and assistance, as without you we would not be where we are today. Like everyone, we are unsure of what 2013 will bring, but we have made our resolutions as a company, and have our aims and objective in place so we can tackle whatever the year throws at us.

So Happy New Year to you all, we hope you have a great one and look forward to working with you in 2013.